


up in flames

by kangstellation



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Dark Magic, It's not fluff that much I can say, M/M, Magic!AU, Mild Angst, Overuse of italics, and subsequently vanquished, as in a demon was summoned, i guess??, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-23 17:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18154895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangstellation/pseuds/kangstellation
Summary: Izuna breathes in deep and tries not to choke on the hot,hotflames that engulf his lungs.





	up in flames

**Author's Note:**

> After about 4 rewrites, this is what I ended up with. Needless to say, it is _definitely_ not what I had imagined when I first started writing it. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the read of whatever-the-hell this is :)
> 
> Note: This is hugely inspired by many other Magic!AUs I've happened to come across (or just, magical worlds in general tbh)

The night is silent — eerily so.

Izuna breathes in deep and tries not to choke on the hot, _hot_ flames that engulf his lungs. A bead of sweat trickles down the side of his face, and he can feel each and every one of his cells screaming in anguish as the fire blazes on, barely confined to his chest by his ribcage. Izuna wants to scream with them — and maybe he would have, two years ago — but he knows better. He knows that he is not alone in the forest clearing despite the silence intent on tricking him into believing he is. He also knows that the only reason why he hasn’t been chased out of the forest yet is because its dwellers are watching him, curious, sinister gleams in their eyes — waiting.

A flick of his wrist sends four candles floating over to where Izuna stands in the middle of a summoning circle drawn with meticulously scattered salt. He exhales shortly, lightly, onto each of them and guides them to their positions in the circle. His cloak is wrapped tightly around him, spelled to insulate against both fire and cold, but he shakes — _shivers_ — as he settles the last candle over the South marker and claps his hands together.

The sound echoes in the clearing, filling in the silent spaces, and Izuna begins chanting. With each incantation phrase that falls seamlessly off his tongue, Izuna feels his hair — tied up, because he can’t afford any distractions — rise off his back slightly as the magic builds ever higher, like a tightly wound spring waiting to snap. His hands tremble as he begins to run them through a series of hand signs — the ones he’d been practicing for days now. The second the last sign is completed, Izuna breathes in, draws on the fervent fire in his lungs, and scorching, blistering blue flames light up the clearing.

Izuna twists around gracefully as he exhales fire, only stopping once the outer circle is completely set ablaze. Blue shadows dance against the trees at the edge of the clearing, taunting yet mesmerising. There is no smoke, because Izuna’s fire doesn’t burn like normal fire does. Izuna waits with bated breath for a second, two, then—

The candles go out, suddenly, all at once. A crushing pressure descends upon the clearing, forcing Izuna to his knees. The only light in the clearing now is the blue fire circle, and even that is diminishing with each passing moment. Izuna grits his teeth, and wrestles for the upper hand with the darkness pressing down on the clearing, intent on quenching all the light sources. It is a battle of magic, but of willpower rather than the traditional spellcasting, and Izuna’s magic recoils the first time it makes contact with the darkness because it’s unadulterated _unnatural-ominous-sinister-evil_ threatening to swallow up everything it touches. It’s only a second’s hesitation, but that’s all the malevolent spirit needs to gain the advantage in their battle.

The disembodied blackness surrounds him, devouring the blue flames until the whole clearing is completely drowned in wraithlike darkness, and with it comes voices and hallucinations, running rampant in Izuna’s mind. Waves of despair crash into him, dragging him down under, suffocating him. Whispers, mocking him derisively, and a vision of a man with long, spiky black hair, laughing with a young Izuna.

 _Madara_.

It’s ultimately this image that causes Izuna to dig his fingers into the palm of his hand so hard they draw blood, and to call upon the blazing fire inside of him to _fight_.

White-hot, searing pain races out at lightning speed to the very tips and edges of his being, and Izuna _howls_ as the fire bursts out from his lungs and his whole body is consumed in a raging blue inferno. The explosion illuminates the entire clearing with a blinding flash as the ground shudders under the force of a shockwave and flames lick at the edges of the clearing. The darkness convulses and emits an ear-piercing shriek that abruptly cuts off as the light swallows it up, not leaving even a single trace of the demonic entity behind.

The excessive light from the explosion fades away only to reveal the aftermath of the fight. Scorched tree barks adorn the clearing, what little is left of the grass is badly charred, and none of the items used for the summoning circle have survived the explosion. Izuna is hunched over on his knees, long, raven hair that had fallen free from the incinerated hair tie covering his face, his entire form shaking as he heaves for breath. His gasps are short and fast — because deep breaths mean expanding his lungs and allowing the fire to spread even more, and Izuna can’t afford that immediately after banishing a demon. His cloak is singed at the edges, and his shirt is in tatters — the burnt, white scraps left on his torso a poor memory of the pristine collared shirt he had snatched off a travelling tailor merchant last week. A pity, really — Izuna had rather liked that shirt. He should have fireproofed it before the ritual, but it had slipped his mind with all the preparation he had had to go through. Izuna sighs, collapsing back onto the grass, and closes his eyes as he reaches out with his magic.

There is residual dark magic scattered everywhere — not the spirit’s; Izuna’s own from performing the ritual — and Izuna has no doubt that the Knights will be on his trail soon enough. He groans, and forces himself back up onto his feet, his muscles protesting at the action. All Izuna wants right now is three days of undisturbed sleep for his magic reserves to replenish themselves, but he knows he doesn’t have the luxury of time for that to happen. Not with the impending threat of being locked up in prison for the rest of his life, and that is if he’s _lucky_. With Izuna’s track record, it’s more likely that he will be due for public execution instead, especially if that Senju councillor has anything to say about it.

The thought of that Senju _bastard_ is enough to make Izuna clench his teeth. Izuna doubts there will ever come a day that he forgives Senju Tobirama for what he did to Madara.  He decides very pointedly to push all of his thoughts about that despicable man to the back of his head, choosing instead to focus on the small triumph of victory he feels at having succeeded in his self-assigned mission.

Izuna takes one last look at the clearing before he leaves, surveying it thoroughly. His magic had sensed the exact moment the spirit had been vanquished but, well, it _is_ always better to be safe than sorry. He uses what little of his magic he has left to run a brief scan of the spiritual plane. Satisfied when it turns up negative, Izuna turns and makes his way out of the forest.

The road back to the inn is winding, with only the moonlight to guide his way. Izuna doesn’t think about Madara. He forces himself to not think about how the only brother he has left is out there somewhere, on some godforsaken mountain, _burning away_ in self-imposed exile.

He tries not to think about the same fate that awaits him if he fails.

Instead, he thinks about how the stars are stunningly bright tonight — twinkling incandescently in the dark expanse of sky above. A gentle breeze carrying the mild sting of winter takes pity on his lonesome, choosing to accompany him back to the hostel. Izuna wonders, and he wonders. He knows it’s foolish, but he _wonders_.

_The stars are bright tonight, nii-san. Are you looking at them, too?_

**Author's Note:**

> First things first, thanks for giving the fic a chance, hopefully you don't regret it ? Also, I apologise for any inaccuracies with witchcraft and such.
> 
> I do have plans to continue writing for this, so think of this as a... prologue of sorts or smthg? I know it focuses a lot on Izuna but I promise a lot more of the world and other characters will be revealed in the second chapter lol
> 
> That being said I know people don't usually like reading WIPs (I know I don't) until after they are finished, but by the off chance you happened to click on this and actually read this far, I would love it if you could leave a comment about what you thought! If there are any typos/mistakes, or questions please feel free to comment them below!
> 
> Thanks for reading my rambling :)
> 
> P.S: You can find me on tumblr @ kangstellation! Come talk to me (if you want to), I promise I don't bite :") And I would dearly love to talk to some people on tumblr for once


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